Prach (physical random access channel) ramping and dynamic beam switching of control and data transmissions

ABSTRACT

Techniques discussed herein can facilitate power ramping of PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel), for example, in connection with change of best gNB (next generation Node B) Tx (Transmit) beam and/or dynamic beam switching for control and/or data channels. Power ramping techniques discussed herein can comprise techniques for determining at least one of a power ramping counter or power offset for PRACH in connection with a change in best DL (Downlink) Tx (Transmit) beam. Dynamic beam switching techniques discussed herein can comprise employing DCI comprising at least one beam indication field indicating a beam index of a new beam of a BPL (Beam Pair Link) for at least one of a data channel or a control SS (Search Space).

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional of Ser. No. 16/638,025 filed February10, which is a National Phase entry application of International PatentApplication No. PCT/US2018/045800 filed on Aug. 8, 2018, which claimsthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Applications No. 62/543,191 filedAug. 9, 2017, entitled “DYNAMIC BEAM SWITCHING OF CONTROL AND DATATRANSMISSIONS”, and 62/543,866 filed Aug. 10, 2017, entitled “POWERRAMPING OF PHYSICAL RANDOM ACCESS CHANNEL (PRACH) FOR NEW RADIO (NR)”,the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to wireless technology, and morespecifically to techniques for power ramping of a PRACH (Physical RandomAccess Channel), for example, in connection with switching of a best DL(Downlink) Tx (Transmit) beam, and to techniques for dynamic beamswitching of control and/or data transmissions.

BACKGROUND

Mobile communication has evolved significantly from early voice systemsto today's highly sophisticated integrated communication platform. Thenext generation wireless communication system, 5G (or new radio (NR))will provide access to information and sharing of data anywhere, anytimeby various users and applications. NR is expected to be a unifiednetwork/system that target to meet vastly different and sometimeconflicting performance dimensions and services. Such diversemulti-dimensional requirements are driven by different services andapplications. In general, NR will evolve based on 3GPP (Third GenerationPartnership Project) LTE (Long Term Evolution)-Advanced with additionalpotential new Radio Access Technologies (RATs) to enrich people liveswith better, simple and seamless wireless connectivity solutions. NRwill enable everything connected by wireless and deliver fast, richcontents and services.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example user equipment (UE)useable in connection with various aspects described herein.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating example components of a device that canbe employed in accordance with various aspects discussed herein.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating example interfaces of basebandcircuitry that can be employed in accordance with various aspectsdiscussed herein.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a system employable at a UE (UserEquipment) that facilitates power ramping and/or dynamic beam switchingtechniques discussed herein, according to various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a system employable at a BS (BaseStation) that facilitates power ramping and/or dynamic beam switchingtechniques discussed herein, according to various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an initial access procedure to beperformed by a UE to establish a connection with a RAN (Radio AccessNetwork), in connection with various aspects discussed herein.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the PRACH (Physical Random AccessChannel) resource configuration association with synchronizationsignal(s), according to various aspects discussed herein.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example PRACH resource configurationand associated UE behavior for power ramping, according to variousaspects discussed herein.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example PRACH resource configurationand associated UE behavior for power ramping with change of the best DL(downlink) beam, according to various aspects discussed herein.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of PRACH transmission beingreset after a change in the best SS block, according to various aspectsdiscussed herein.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a PRACH transmissionbehavior that is independent of change in the best SS block, accordingto various aspects discussed herein.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a PRACH transmissionbehavior involving change of PRACH subset based on a change in the bestSS block, according to various aspects discussed herein.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a PRACH transmissionbehavior without change of PRACH subset based on a change in the best SSblock, according to various aspects discussed herein.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example technique for PRACH supportfor a large number of gNB receive beams, according to various aspectsdiscussed herein.

FIG. 15A is a diagram illustrating an example scenario wherein there aredifferent sizes of cyclic prefixes in different symbols in the sameslot, in connection with various aspects discussed herein.

FIG. 15B is a diagram illustrating an example PRACH format that can beemployed by a UE, according to various aspects discussed herein.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method employable at aUE that facilitates power ramping in connection with PRACH, according tovarious aspects discussed herein.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of different BPLs appliedfor a control channel and a data channel, in connection with variousaspects discussed herein.

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method employable at aUE that facilitates dynamic reconfiguration of a control channel SS,according to various aspects discussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure will now be described with reference to theattached drawing figures, wherein like reference numerals are used torefer to like elements throughout, and wherein the illustratedstructures and devices are not necessarily drawn to scale. As utilizedherein, terms “component,” “system,” “interface,” and the like areintended to refer to a computer-related entity, hardware, software(e.g., in execution), and/or firmware. For example, a component can be aprocessor (e.g., a microprocessor, a controller, or other processingdevice), a process running on a processor, a controller, an object, anexecutable, a program, a storage device, a computer, a tablet PC and/ora user equipment (e.g., mobile phone, etc.) with a processing device. Byway of illustration, an application running on a server and the servercan also be a component. One or more components can reside within aprocess, and a component can be localized on one computer and/ordistributed between two or more computers. A set of elements or a set ofother components can be described herein, in which the term “set” can beinterpreted as “one or more.”

Further, these components can execute from various computer readablestorage media having various data structures stored thereon such as witha module, for example. The components can communicate via local and/orremote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or moredata packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with anothercomponent in a local system, distributed system, and/or across anetwork, such as, the Internet, a local area network, a wide areanetwork, or similar network with other systems via the signal).

As another example, a component can be an apparatus with specificfunctionality provided by mechanical parts operated by electric orelectronic circuitry, in which the electric or electronic circuitry canbe operated by a software application or a firmware application executedby one or more processors. The one or more processors can be internal orexternal to the apparatus and can execute at least a part of thesoftware or firmware application. As yet another example, a componentcan be an apparatus that provides specific functionality throughelectronic components without mechanical parts; the electroniccomponents can include one or more processors therein to executesoftware and/or firmware that confer(s), at least in part, thefunctionality of the electronic components.

Use of the word exemplary is intended to present concepts in a concretefashion. As used in this application, the term “or” is intended to meanan inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or”. That is, unlessspecified otherwise, or clear from context, “X employs A or B” isintended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, ifX employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then “X employs Aor B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition,the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appendedclaims should generally be construed to mean “one or more” unlessspecified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singularform. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “including”, “includes”,“having”, “has”, “with”, or variants thereof are used in either thedetailed description and the claims, such terms are intended to beinclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.” Additionally, insituations wherein one or more numbered items are discussed (e.g., a“first X”, a “second X”, etc.), in general the one or more numbereditems may be distinct or they may be the same, although in somesituations the context may indicate that they are distinct or that theyare the same.

As used herein, the term “circuitry” may refer to, be part of, orinclude an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electroniccircuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or memory(shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software orfirmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitablehardware components that provide the described functionality. In someembodiments, the circuitry may be implemented in, or functionsassociated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or moresoftware or firmware modules. In some embodiments, circuitry may includelogic, at least partially operable in hardware.

Embodiments described herein may be implemented into a system using anysuitably configured hardware and/or software. FIG. 1 illustrates anarchitecture of a system 100 of a network in accordance with someembodiments. The system 100 is shown to include a user equipment (UE)101 and a UE 102. The UEs 101 and 102 are illustrated as smartphones(e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to oneor more cellular networks), but may also comprise any mobile ornon-mobile computing device, such as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs),pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, or anycomputing device including a wireless communications interface.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 101 and 102 can comprise an Internetof Things (IoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designedfor low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. AnIoT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) ormachine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC serveror device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-BasedService (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensornetworks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be amachine-initiated exchange of data. An IoT network describesinterconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiableembedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), withshort-lived connections. The IoT UEs may execute background applications(e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate theconnections of the IoT network.

The UEs 101 and 102 may be configured to connect, e.g., communicativelycouple, with a radio access network (RAN) 110—the RAN 110 may be, forexample, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), orsome other type of RAN. The UEs 101 and 102 utilize connections 103 and104, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communicationsinterface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example,the connections 103 and 104 are illustrated as an air interface toenable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellularcommunications protocols, such as a Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA)network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular(POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation(5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like.

In this embodiment, the UEs 101 and 102 may further directly exchangecommunication data via a ProSe interface 105. The ProSe interface 105may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising oneor more logical channels, including but not limited to a PhysicalSidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel(PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a PhysicalSidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

The UE 102 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP) 106via connection 107. The connection 107 can comprise a local wirelessconnection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11protocol, wherein the AP 106 would comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi®)router. In this example, the AP 106 is shown to be connected to theInternet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system(described in further detail below).

The RAN 110 can include one or more access nodes that enable theconnections 103 and 104. These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to asbase stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next GenerationNodeBs (gNB), RAN nodes, and so forth, and can comprise ground stations(e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providingcoverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). The RAN 110 mayinclude one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RANnode 111, and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells orpicocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller usercapacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power(LP) RAN node 112.

Any of the RAN nodes 111 and 112 can terminate the air interfaceprotocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs 101 and 102.In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes 111 and 112 can fulfillvarious logical functions for the RAN 110 including, but not limited to,radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearermanagement, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management anddata packet scheduling, and mobility management.

In accordance with some embodiments, the UEs 101 and 102 can beconfigured to communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-DivisionMultiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any ofthe RAN nodes 111 and 112 over a multicarrier communication channel inaccordance various communication techniques, such as, but not limitedto, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a SingleCarrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communicationtechnique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications),although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlinktransmissions from any of the RAN nodes 111 and 112 to the UEs 101 and102, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The gridcan be a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequencyresource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in eachslot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practicefor OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resourceallocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds toone OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration ofthe resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radioframe. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted asa resource element. Each resource grid comprises a number of resourceblocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels toresource elements. Each resource block comprises a collection ofresource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent thesmallest quantity of resources that currently can be allocated. Thereare several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed usingsuch resource blocks.

The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data andhigher-layer signaling to the UEs 101 and 102. The physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport formatand resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among otherthings. It may also inform the UEs 101 and 102 about the transportformat, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request)information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlinkscheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to theUE 102 within a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes 111 and112 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs101 and 102. The downlink resource assignment information may be sent onthe PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 101 and 102.

The PDCCH may use control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the controlinformation. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCHcomplex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets, whichmay then be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching.Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, whereeach CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elementsknown as resource element groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase ShiftKeying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH can betransmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of thedownlink control information (DCI) and the channel condition. There canbe four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with differentnumbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=1, 2, 4, 8, or 16).

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for controlchannel information that are an extension of the above-describedconcepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physicaldownlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for controlinformation transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one ormore enhanced the control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above,each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elementsknown as an enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). An ECCE may haveother numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN 110 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network(CN) 120—via an S1 interface 113. In embodiments, the CN 120 may be anevolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network,or some other type of CN. In this embodiment the S1 interface 113 issplit into two parts: the S1-U interface 114, which carries traffic databetween the RAN nodes 111 and 112 and the serving gateway (S-GW) 122,and the S1-mobility management entity (MME) interface 115, which is asignaling interface between the RAN nodes 111 and 112 and MMEs 121.

In this embodiment, the CN 120 comprises the MMEs 121, the S-GW 122, thePacket Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 123, and a home subscriberserver (HSS) 124. The MMEs 121 may be similar in function to the controlplane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) SupportNodes (SGSN). The MMEs 121 may manage mobility aspects in access such asgateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 124 maycomprise a database for network users, including subscription-relatedinformation to support the network entities' handling of communicationsessions. The CN 120 may comprise one or several HSSs 124, depending onthe number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, onthe organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 124 canprovide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization,naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc.

The S-GW 122 may terminate the S1 interface 113 towards the RAN 110, androutes data packets between the RAN 110 and the CN 120. In addition, theS-GW 122 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN nodehandovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Otherresponsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policyenforcement.

The P-GW 123 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW 123may route data packets between the EPC network 123 and external networkssuch as a network including the application server 130 (alternativelyreferred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP)interface 125. Generally, the application server 130 may be an elementoffering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network(e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). Inthis embodiment, the P-GW 123 is shown to be communicatively coupled toan application server 130 via an IP communications interface 125. Theapplication server 130 can also be configured to support one or morecommunication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP)sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networkingservices, etc.) for the UEs 101 and 102 via the CN 120.

The P-GW 123 may further be a node for policy enforcement and chargingdata collection. Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) 126 isthe policy and charging control element of the CN 120. In a non-roamingscenario, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land MobileNetwork (HPLMN) associated with a UE's Internet Protocol ConnectivityAccess Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with localbreakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE'sIP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within a HPLMN and a Visited PCRF(V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF126 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 130 via theP-GW 123. The application server 130 may signal the PCRF 126 to indicatea new service flow and select the appropriate Quality of Service (QoS)and charging parameters. The PCRF 126 may provision this rule into aPolicy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with theappropriate traffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class of identifier(QCI), which commences the QoS and charging as specified by theapplication server 130.

FIG. 2 illustrates example components of a device 200 in accordance withsome embodiments. In some embodiments, the device 200 may includeapplication circuitry 202, baseband circuitry 204, Radio Frequency (RF)circuitry 206, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 208, one or moreantennas 210, and power management circuitry (PMC) 212 coupled togetherat least as shown. The components of the illustrated device 200 may beincluded in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device 200 mayinclude less elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize applicationcircuitry 202, and instead include a processor/controller to process IPdata received from an EPC). In some embodiments, the device 200 mayinclude additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage,display, camera, sensor, or input/output (I/O) interface. In otherembodiments, the components described below may be included in more thanone device (e.g., said circuitries may be separately included in morethan one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations).

The application circuitry 202 may include one or more applicationprocessors. For example, the application circuitry 202 may includecircuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core ormulti-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination ofgeneral-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphicsprocessors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupledwith or may include memory/storage and may be configured to executeinstructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applicationsor operating systems to run on the device 200. In some embodiments,processors of application circuitry 202 may process IP data packetsreceived from an EPC.

The baseband circuitry 204 may include circuitry such as, but notlimited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Thebaseband circuitry 204 may include one or more baseband processors orcontrol logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signalpath of the RF circuitry 206 and to generate baseband signals for atransmit signal path of the RF circuitry 206. Baseband processingcircuitry 204 may interface with the application circuitry 202 forgeneration and processing of the baseband signals and for controllingoperations of the RF circuitry 206. For example, in some embodiments,the baseband circuitry 204 may include a third generation (3G) basebandprocessor 204A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 204B, afifth generation (5G) baseband processor 204C, or other basebandprocessor(s) 204D for other existing generations, generations indevelopment or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation(2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 204 (e.g.,one or more of baseband processors 204A-D) may handle various radiocontrol functions that enable communication with one or more radionetworks via the RF circuitry 206. In other embodiments, some or all ofthe functionality of baseband processors 204A-D may be included inmodules stored in the memory 204G and executed via a Central ProcessingUnit (CPU) 204E. The radio control functions may include, but are notlimited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radiofrequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulationcircuitry of the baseband circuitry 204 may include Fast-FourierTransform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demappingfunctionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of thebaseband circuitry 204 may include convolution, tailbiting convolution,turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoderfunctionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation andencoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and mayinclude other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 204 may include one or moreaudio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 204F. The audio DSP(s) 204F maybe include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellationand may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments.Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in asingle chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board insome embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituentcomponents of the baseband circuitry 204 and the application circuitry202 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on achip (SOC).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 204 may provide forcommunication compatible with one or more radio technologies. Forexample, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 204 may supportcommunication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network(EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN).Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 204 is configured to supportradio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referredto as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 206 may enable communication with wireless networks usingmodulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. Invarious embodiments, the RF circuitry 206 may include switches, filters,amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wirelessnetwork. RF circuitry 206 may include a receive signal path which mayinclude circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEMcircuitry 208 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry204. RF circuitry 206 may also include a transmit signal path which mayinclude circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by thebaseband circuitry 204 and provide RF output signals to the FEMcircuitry 208 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 206 mayinclude mixer circuitry 206 a, amplifier circuitry 206 b and filtercircuitry 206 c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RFcircuitry 206 may include filter circuitry 206 c and mixer circuitry 206a. RF circuitry 206 may also include synthesizer circuitry 206 d forsynthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 206 a of thereceive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments,the mixer circuitry 206 a of the receive signal path may be configuredto down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 208 based onthe synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 206 d. Theamplifier circuitry 206 b may be configured to amplify thedown-converted signals and the filter circuitry 206 c may be a low-passfilter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwantedsignals from the down-converted signals to generate output basebandsignals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the basebandcircuitry 204 for further processing. In some embodiments, the outputbaseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although thisis not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 206 a of thereceive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206 a of the transmit signalpath may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on thesynthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 206 d togenerate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 208. The basebandsignals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 204 and may befiltered by filter circuitry 206 c.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206 a of the receive signalpath and the mixer circuitry 206 a of the transmit signal path mayinclude two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedownconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, themixer circuitry 206 a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry206 a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and maybe arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 206 a of the receive signal path andthe mixer circuitry 206 a may be arranged for direct downconversion anddirect upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixercircuitry 206 a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 206 aof the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyneoperation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input basebandsignals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of theembodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternateembodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signalsmay be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RFcircuitry 206 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) anddigital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry204 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RFcircuitry 206.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 206 d may be afractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other typesof frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizercircuitry 206 d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequencymultiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with afrequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 206 d may be configured to synthesize anoutput frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 206 a of the RFcircuitry 206 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. Insome embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 206 d may be a fractionalN/N+1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltagecontrolled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Dividercontrol input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 204 orthe applications processor 202 depending on the desired outputfrequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may bedetermined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by theapplications processor 202.

Synthesizer circuitry 206 d of the RF circuitry 206 may include adivider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phaseaccumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulusdivider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phaseaccumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured todivide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out)to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, theDLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phasedetector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments,the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Ndequal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in thedelay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to helpensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 206 d may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in otherembodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrierfrequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrierfrequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and dividercircuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency withmultiple different phases with respect to each other. In someembodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In someembodiments, the RF circuitry 206 may include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 208 may include a receive signal path which may includecircuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or moreantennas 210, amplify the received signals and provide the amplifiedversions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 206 for furtherprocessing. FEM circuitry 208 may also include a transmit signal pathwhich may include circuitry configured to amplify signals fortransmission provided by the RF circuitry 206 for transmission by one ormore of the one or more antennas 210. In various embodiments, theamplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be donesolely in the RF circuitry 206, solely in the FEM 208, or in both the RFcircuitry 206 and the FEM 208.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 208 may include a TX/RX switch toswitch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEMcircuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path.The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include an LNA toamplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RFsignals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 206). The transmitsignal path of the FEM circuitry 208 may include a power amplifier (PA)to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 206), andone or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission(e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 210).

In some embodiments, the PMC 212 may manage power provided to thebaseband circuitry 204. In particular, the PMC 212 may controlpower-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DCconversion. The PMC 212 may often be included when the device 200 iscapable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device isincluded in a UE. The PMC 212 may increase the power conversionefficiency while providing desirable implementation size and heatdissipation characteristics.

While FIG. 2 shows the PMC 212 coupled only with the baseband circuitry204. However, in other embodiments, the PMC 2 12 may be additionally oralternatively coupled with, and perform similar power managementoperations for, other components such as, but not limited to,application circuitry 202, RF circuitry 206, or FEM 208.

In some embodiments, the PMC 212 may control, or otherwise be part of,various power saving mechanisms of the device 200. For example, if thedevice 200 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is still connected tothe RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it may entera state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period ofinactivity. During this state, the device 200 may power down for briefintervals of time and thus save power.

If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time,then the device 200 may transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where itdisconnects from the network and does not perform operations such aschannel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 200 goes into a verylow power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakesup to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 200may not receive data in this state, in order to receive data, it musttransition back to RRC_Connected state.

An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable tothe network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging fromseconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is totallyunreachable to the network and may power down completely. Any data sentduring this time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay isacceptable.

Processors of the application circuitry 202 and processors of thebaseband circuitry 204 may be used to execute elements of one or moreinstances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the basebandcircuitry 204, alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer 3,Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the applicationcircuitry 204 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from theselayers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmissioncommunication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers).As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a radio resource control(RRC) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein,Layer 2 may comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio linkcontrol (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1may comprise a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node, described infurther detail below.

FIG. 3 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry inaccordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the basebandcircuitry 204 of FIG. 2 may comprise processors 204A-204E and a memory204G utilized by said processors. Each of the processors 204A-204E mayinclude a memory interface, 304A-304E, respectively, to send/receivedata to/from the memory 204G.

The baseband circuitry 204 may further include one or more interfaces tocommunicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, such as a memoryinterface 312 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memoryexternal to the baseband circuitry 204), an application circuitryinterface 314 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from theapplication circuitry 202 of FIG. 2 ), an RF circuitry interface 316(e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from RF circuitry 206 ofFIG. 2 ), a wireless hardware connectivity interface 318 (e.g., aninterface to send/receive data to/from Near Field Communication (NFC)components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi®components, and other communication components), and a power managementinterface 320 (e.g., an interface to send/receive power or controlsignals to/from the PMC 212).

A first set of aspects discussed herein provides mechanisms for how toconfigure the transmission power of PRACH (Physical Random AccessChannel) transmissions based on RACH (Random Access Channel)configurations. A second set of aspects discussed herein can relate todynamic beam switching for control and data channels. Variousembodiments discussed herein can employ techniques of the first set ofaspects and/or the second set of aspects.

Referring to FIG. 4 , illustrated is a block diagram of a system 400employable at a UE (User Equipment) that facilitates power rampingand/or dynamic beam switching techniques discussed herein, according tovarious aspects described herein. System 400 can include one or moreprocessors 410 (e.g., one or more baseband processors such as one ormore of the baseband processors discussed in connection with FIG. 2and/or FIG. 3 ) comprising processing circuitry and associatedinterface(s) (e.g., one or more interface(s) discussed in connectionwith FIG. 3 ), transceiver circuitry 420 (e.g., comprising part or allof RF circuitry 206, which can comprise transmitter circuitry (e.g.,associated with one or more transmit chains) and/or receiver circuitry(e.g., associated with one or more receive chains) that can employcommon circuit elements, distinct circuit elements, or a combinationthereof), and a memory 430 (which can comprise any of a variety ofstorage mediums and can store instructions and/or data associated withone or more of processor(s) 410 or transceiver circuitry 420). Invarious aspects, system 400 can be included within a user equipment(UE). As described in greater detail below, system 400 can facilitatetechniques described herein associated with the first set of aspectsand/or the second set of aspects.

In various aspects discussed herein, signals and/or messages can begenerated and output for transmission, and/or transmitted messages canbe received and processed. Depending on the type of signal or messagegenerated, outputting for transmission (e.g., by processor(s) 410,processor(s) 510, etc.) can comprise one or more of the following:generating a set of associated bits that indicate the content of thesignal or message, coding (e.g., which can include adding a cyclicredundancy check (CRC) and/or coding via one or more of turbo code, lowdensity parity-check (LDPC) code, tailbiting convolution code (TBCC),etc.), scrambling (e.g., based on a scrambling seed), modulating (e.g.,via one of binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shiftkeying (QPSK), or some form of quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM),etc.), and/or resource mapping (e.g., to a scheduled set of resources,to a set of time and frequency resources granted for uplinktransmission, etc.). Depending on the type of received signal ormessage, processing (e.g., by processor(s) 410, processor(s) 510, etc.)can comprise one or more of: identifying physical resources associatedwith the signal/message, detecting the signal/message, resource elementgroup deinterleaving, demodulation, descrambling, and/or decoding.

Referring to FIG. 5 , illustrated is a block diagram of a system 500employable at a BS (Base Station) that facilitates power ramping and/ordynamic beam switching techniques discussed herein, according to variousaspects described herein. System 500 can include one or more processors510 (e.g., one or more baseband processors such as one or more of thebaseband processors discussed in connection with FIG. 2 and/or FIG. 3 )comprising processing circuitry and associated interface(s) (e.g., oneor more interface(s) discussed in connection with FIG. 3 ),communication circuitry 520 (e.g., which can comprise circuitry for oneor more wired (e.g., X2, etc.) connections and/or part or all of RFcircuitry 206, which can comprise one or more of transmitter circuitry(e.g., associated with one or more transmit chains) or receivercircuitry (e.g., associated with one or more receive chains), whereinthe transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry can employ commoncircuit elements, distinct circuit elements, or a combination thereof),and memory 530 (which can comprise any of a variety of storage mediumsand can store instructions and/or data associated with one or more ofprocessor(s) 510 or communication circuitry 520). In various aspects,system 500 can be included within an Evolved Universal Terrestrial RadioAccess Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (Evolved Node B, eNodeB, or eNB), nextgeneration Node B (gNodeB or gNB) or other base station or TRP(Transmit/Receive Point) in a wireless communications network. In someaspects, the processor(s) 510, communication circuitry 520, and thememory 530 can be included in a single device, while in other aspects,they can be included in different devices, such as part of a distributedarchitecture. As described in greater detail below, system 500 canfacilitate techniques discussed herein in connection with the first setof aspects and/or the second set of aspects.

Power Ramping of Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) for New Radio(NR)

Existing techniques do not provide proper UE behavior for the RACH(Random Access Channel) retransmissions if the best SS (SynchronizationSignal) block changes during retransmissions. A first set of aspectsdiscussed herein (and embodiments employing those aspects) relates toconfiguration of the transmission power of PRACH transmissions based onthe RACH configurations. Such techniques and embodiment can beefficiently employed for PRACH in multi-beam scenarios.

At the 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) RAN1 (RAN (RadioAccess Network) WG1 (Working Group 1)) NR Ad Hoc in January 2017 andRAN1 #89 in May 2017, the following agreements were made with regard toPRACH power ramping:

1) At RAN1 Ad Hoc:

-   -   a) Whether UE performs UL (Uplink) Beam switching during        retransmissions is up to UE implementation        -   i) Note: which beam UE switches to is up to UE            implementation

2) At Rani #89:

-   -   a) If the UE conducts beam switching, the counter of power        ramping remains unchanged        -   i) FFS (For Further Study): UE behavior after reaching the            maximum power

The agreements at RAN1 Ad Hoc and RAN1 #89 are regarding the powerramping of retransmissions of PRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s)410, transmitted via transceiver circuitry 420, received viacommunication circuitry 520, and processed by processor(s) 510). For aUE (e.g., employing system 400) to make a connection with a cell, it hasto perform an initial access procedure. Referring to FIG. 6 ,illustrated is a diagram of an initial access procedure to be performedby a UE to establish a connection with a RAN, in connection with variousaspects discussed herein. When a UE starts the initial access, it canfirst perform initial synchronization by detecting (e.g., viaprocessor(s) 410) synchronization signals (e.g., received viatransceiver circuitry 420) at 602 and can sequentially receive (e.g.,via transceiver circuitry 420) system information at 604 to have atleast random access procedure configuration information. After that, at606-612, the UE can perform the random access procedure. For the randomaccess procedure, the UE can initially transmit PRACH (Msg-1 (Message1)) at 606 (e.g., generated by processor(s) 410, transmitted viatransceiver circuitry 420, received via communication circuitry 520, andprocessed by processor(s) 510) and attempt to receive Random AccessResponse (RAR) (Msg-2) at 608. If there is no RAR received by the UEinside a pre-defined (or configured) time window, the UE can retransmitPRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s) 410, transmitted via transceivercircuitry 420, received via communication circuitry 520, and processedby processor(s) 510) with different power until it receives RAR. If theUE receives RAR (e.g., generated by processor(s) 510, transmitted viacommunication circuitry 520, received via transceiver circuitry 420, andprocessed by processor(s) 410) at 608, then the UE can transmit Msg-3(e.g., generated by processor(s) 410, transmitted via transceivercircuitry 420, received via communication circuitry 520, and processedby processor(s) 510) at 610 and can receive the Msg-4 (e.g., generatedby processor(s) 510, transmitted via communication circuitry 520,received via transceiver circuitry 420, and processed by processor(s)410) at 612, which ends the initial access procedure.

If a UE has multiple analog beams and beam correspondence betweentransmission and reception is not available, then the UE can eitherchange the transmission beam for the retransmission of PRACH (e.g.,generated by processor(s) 410, transmitted via transceiver circuitry420, received via communication circuitry 520, and processed byprocessor(s) 510) or increase the transmission power (e.g., viaprocessor(s) 410 and transceiver circuitry 420) for retransmission ofthe PRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s) 410, transmitted viatransceiver circuitry 420, received via communication circuitry 520, andprocessed by processor(s) 510). Based on the agreements discussed above,the change of the Tx (Transmit) beam is up to UE implementation. If theUE changes the Tx beam (e.g., via processor(s) 410 selecting andtransceiver circuitry 420 applying a new set of beamforming weights),then the power ramping counter of the UE can remain unchanged, whichmeans it can use the same or similar power (e.g., as selected byprocessor(s) 410 and applied via transceiver circuitry 420) for thePRACH transmission as employed for the previous PRACH transmission. Ifthe UE does not change the Tx beam, then its power ramping counter canbe increased by one and the UE can increase power (e.g., viaprocessor(s) 410 and transceiver circuitry 420) for the PRACHretransmission, wherein the power of the PRACH retransmission can bebased at least in part on the power ramping counter.

Mechanisms to Set the Power Ramping Counter Depending on PRACH Resources

In multi-beam operation, there are synchronization signals (e.g.,generated by processor(s) 510, transmitted via communication circuitry520, received via transceiver circuitry 420, and processed byprocessor(s) 410) from multiple antennas in a base station (e.g., gNB,eNB, etc.) using a beam sweeping manner. If a UE detects (e.g., viaprocessor(s) 410) a synchronization signal (e.g., received viatransceiver circuitry 420) from a certain beam, then there can be onePRACH resource associated with the beam of the detected synchronizationsignal. In such scenarios, the UE can use the PRACH resource for thetransmission of the PRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s) 410,transmitted via transceiver circuitry 420, received via communicationcircuitry 520, and processed by processor(s) 510). Depending on the beamof the detected synchronization signal, the UE can use the differentPRACH resources for the PRACH sequences.

Referring to FIG. 7 , illustrated is a diagram of the PRACH resourceconfiguration association with synchronization signal(s), according tovarious aspects discussed herein. In various aspects, a base station(e.g., gNB, etc.) can use multiple synchronization signal blocks (SSblocks) (e.g., generated by processor(s) 510, transmitted viacommunication circuitry 520, received via transceiver circuitry 420, andprocessed by processor(s) 410) for one or more of the downlinktransmission beam. For each beam, there can be one PRACH resource subsetconfigured by system information (e.g., generated by processor(s) 510,transmitted via communication circuitry 520, received via transceivercircuitry 420, and processed by processor(s) 410). A UE can attempt todetect (e.g., via processor(s) 410) the SS block (e.g., received viatransceiver circuitry 420) and can determine (e.g., via processor(s)410) the best SS block (e.g., based on the highest received signalaccording to some metric). Based on the best SS block, the UE can usethe PRACH resource subset associated with the best SS block for thetransmission of PRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s) 410, transmittedvia transceiver circuitry 420, received via communication circuitry 520,and processed by processor(s) 510). At the NR base station (gNB) side,by receiving PRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s) 410, transmitted viatransceiver circuitry 420, received via communication circuitry 520, andprocessed by processor(s) 510), the BS can determine that the best Txbeam for the UE which transmitted the PRACH is the Tx beam used for theSS block associated with the PRACH resource subset where the PRACH wasreceived.

If a UE detects (e.g., via processor(s) 510) a SS block (e.g., generatedby processor(s) 510, transmitted via communication circuitry 520,received via transceiver circuitry 420, and processed by processor(s)410), the UE can transmit the PRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s)410, transmitted via transceiver circuitry 420, received viacommunication circuitry 520, and processed by processor(s) 510) on theRPACH resource subset which is associated with the detected SS block.Referring to FIG. 8 , illustrated is a diagram showing an example PRACHresource configuration and associated UE behavior for power ramping,according to various aspects discussed herein. By detecting (e.g., viaprocessor(s) 410) the best SS block (e.g., the diagonally hatched SSblock out of the SS burst set) of SS block(s) received (e.g., viatransceiver circuitry 420), the UE can select the corresponding PRACHresource subset(s) (the diagonally hatched subset) for transmission ofthe PRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s) 410, transmitted viatransceiver circuitry 420, received via communication circuitry 520, andprocessed by processor(s) 510). If the UE does not receive the randomaccess response (RAR) after the transmission of PRACH, it can transmitPRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s) 410, transmitted via transceivercircuitry 420, received via communication circuitry 520, and processedby processor(s) 510) again in the next PRACH subset. If the UE changesthe beam in the retransmission of PRACH, then it can skip increasing thepower ramping counter. However, if the UE uses the same beam in theretransmission of PRACH, then it can increase the power ramping counterby 1 as shown in FIG. 8 .

In FIG. 8 , it can be assumed that during the multiple transmissions ofPRACH from a UE, the best SS block is not changed. However, it ispossible that the best SS block can be changed for a UE while it istransmitting PRACH using either a different beam or increased power.

Referring to FIG. 9 , illustrated is a diagram showing an example PRACHresource configuration and associated UE behavior for power ramping withchange of the best DL (downlink) beam, according to various aspectsdiscussed herein. In the example of FIG. 9 , after the sixthtransmission of PRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s) 410, transmittedvia transceiver circuitry 420, received via communication circuitry 520,and processed by processor(s) 510), the best SS block is changed fromthe first SS block to the third SS block. Additionally, in FIG. 9 ,after the ninth transmission of PRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s)410, transmitted via transceiver circuitry 420, received viacommunication circuitry 520, and processed by processor(s) 510), thebest SS block is changed back to the first SS block. In existingtechniques, the UE behavior on PRACH transmissions is not clear in suchscenarios.

In a first set of embodiments of the first set of aspects, if the bestSS block is changed, then the PRACH transmission is reset. In suchembodiments, the UE can just neglect the previous PRACH transmission,and it can transmit the PRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s) 410,transmitted via transceiver circuitry 420, received via communicationcircuitry 520, and processed by processor(s) 510) from the initialtransmission. In such a scenario, the power ramping counter can be reset(e.g., via processor(s) 510) to 1 for all beams, and if there is no RAR(e.g., generated by processor(s) 510, transmitted via communicationcircuitry 520, received via transceiver circuitry 420, and processed byprocessor(s) 410) for the PRACH transmission, the UE can either changethe Tx beam (e.g., via processor(s) 410 and transceiver circuitry 420)while keeping the power ramping counter or can use the same Tx beam withthe power ramping counter increased by 1. Referring to FIG. 10 ,illustrated is diagram showing an example of PRACH transmission beingreset after a change in the best SS block, according to various aspectsdiscussed herein.

In a second set of embodiments of the first set of aspects, if the bestSS block is changed, the UE can maintain the same behavior on the powerramping counter (e.g., via processor(s) 410 and transceiver circuitry420). In such embodiments, the UE can change the PRACH resource subset(e.g., via processor(s) 410) according to the new best SS block, but thetransmission of PRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s) 410, transmittedvia transceiver circuitry 420, received via communication circuitry 520,and processed by processor(s) 510) can be based on the previous PRACHtransmission. Thus, if the UE changes the Tx beam, then the powerramping counter can remain the same. If the UE uses the same Tx beam,then the power ramping counter can be increased by 1 (e.g., viaprocessor(s) 410 and transceiver circuitry 420). Referring to FIG. 11 ,illustrated is an example diagram of PRACH transmission behavior that isindependent of change in the best SS block, according to various aspectsdiscussed herein.

In a third set of embodiments of the first set of aspects, if the bestSS block is changed, then the UE can reset (e.g., via processor(s) 410)the PRACH transmission behavior, for example, at least on the powerramping counter. The UE can change (e.g., via processor(s) 410) thePRACH resource subset according to the new best SS block and can reset(e.g., via processor(s) 410) the power ramping counter to 1 for thetransmission of PRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s) 410, transmittedvia transceiver circuitry 420, received via communication circuitry 520,and processed by processor(s) 510) in the new PRACH resource subset.After that, if the UE changes the Tx beam (e.g., via processor(s) 410and transceiver circuitry 420), then the power ramping counter remainsthe same. If the UE uses the same Tx beam, then the power rampingcounter can be increased by 1 (e.g., via processor(s) 410 andtransceiver circuitry 420). Referring to FIG. 12 , illustrated is anexample diagram of a PRACH transmission behavior involving change ofPRACH subset based on a change in the best SS block, according tovarious aspects discussed herein. In FIG. 12 , when the best SS block ischanged from the first SS block to the third SS block, then the powerramping counter is reset to 1 (e.g., via processor(s) 410 andtransceiver circuitry 420).

However, in the third set of embodiments of the first set of aspects, ifthe best SS block is changed back to the previous best SS block, thenthe UE behavior can be different from the first or second sets ofembodiments. In FIG. 12 , when the best SS block is changed back to thefirst SS block, then the UE can retain the previous power rampingcounter and use it as the reference (e.g., via processor(s) 410). InFIG. 12 , before the best SS block changed to the third SS block, thelast power ramping counter was 3. Then when the best SS block changesfrom the third SS block back to the first SS block, the power rampingcounter can be based on the previous power ramping counter (which was 3)and the following power ramping counter can be determined.

In addition, in aspects, an additional counter can be defined (e.g.,counter_A) for determining validity of the previous power rampingcounter. If the best SS block is changed, then the counter_A can be set(e.g., via processor(s) 410). If the best SS block is changed back(e.g., via processor(s) 410) to the previous best SS block, if thecounter_A is larger than a certain threshold, then the previously usedpower ramping counter is not valid, and it can be reset (e.g., viaprocessor(s) 410) to 1. However, if the counter_A is not larger than thethreshold, then the UE can assume (e.g., via processor(s) 410) that thepreviously used power ramping counter when the best SS block is thefirst one (as in FIG. 12 ) is valid, and the power ramping counter canbe updated (e.g., via processor(s) 410) based on this previous value.

In a fourth set of embodiments of the first set of aspects, if the bestSS block is changed, then the UE can reduce (e.g., via processor(s) 410)the power ramping counter by a certain amount (e.g., by a non-negativeinteger). The UE can change the PRACH resource subset according to thenew best SS block and can reduce (e.g., via processor(s) 410) the powerramping counter by a certain amount X (e.g., for X an integer 0) for thetransmission of PRACH in the new PRACH resource subset. If the powerramping counter is smaller than (X+1), then the power ramping countercan be reset (e.g., via processor(s) 410) to 1. In other words, thepower ramping counter can be Max(1, P−X), where P is the latest powerramping counter.

After that, if the best SS block is not changed again and the UE changesthe Tx beam, then the power ramping counter remains the same. If the UEuses the same Tx beam, then the power ramping counter should beincreased by 1. The value X can be one of fixed in the specification(e.g., as a pre-determined integer X≥0), configured by UE-specific RRC(Radio Resource Control) (e.g., generated by processor(s) 510,transmitted via communication circuitry 520, received via transceivercircuitry 420, and processed by processor(s) 410), or configured bysystem information (e.g., remaining minimum system information (RMSI) orother system information (OSI) generated by processor(s) 510,transmitted via communication circuitry 520, received via transceivercircuitry 420, and processed by processor(s) 410).

In a fifth set of embodiments of the first set of aspects, if the bestSS block is changed, then the UE can reduce the power (e.g., viaprocessor(s) 410 and transceiver circuitry 420) by a certain amount ofpower offset. The UE can change (e.g., via processor(s) 410) the PRACHresource subset according to the new best SS block and can maintain(e.g., via processor(s) 410) the power ramping counter but decrease thepower (e.g., via processor(s) 410 and transceiver circuitry by Y dB (forY≥0) for the transmission of PRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s) 410,transmitted via transceiver circuitry 420, received via communicationcircuitry 520, and processed by processor(s) 510) in the new PRACHresource subset. After that, if the best SS block is not changed againand the UE changes (e.g., via processor(s) 410 and transceiver circuitry420) the Tx beam, then the power ramping counter can remain the same(e.g., as determined by processor(s) 410). If the UE uses the same Txbeam, then the power ramping counter can be increased by 1 (e.g., viaprocessor(s) 410). The value Y can be one of fixed in the specification(e.g., as a pre-determined value Y≥0), configured by UE-specific RRC(Radio Resource Control) (e.g., generated by processor(s) 510,transmitted via communication circuitry 520, received via transceivercircuitry 420, and processed by processor(s) 410), or configured bysystem information (e.g., remaining minimum system information (RMSI),or other system information (OSI) generated by processor(s) 510,transmitted via communication circuitry 520, received via transceivercircuitry 420, and processed by processor(s) 410).

In a sixth set of embodiments of the first set of aspects, if the bestSS block is changed, the UE does not change the PRACH resource set. UEjust use the same PRACH resource set that was initially chosen for thefirst transmission of PRACH until the end of the PRACH operation.Referring to FIG. 13 , illustrated is an example diagram of a PRACHtransmission behavior without change of PRACH subset based on a changein the best SS block, according to various aspects discussed herein.

In a seventh set of embodiments of the first set of aspects, the Rx beamconfiguration can be considered. If there are multiple Rx beams on thegNB side, then the gNB can perform Rx beamforming (e.g., viaprocessor(s) 510 and communication circuitry 520) for the detection ofPRACH using multiple Rx beams. Since the number of maximum Rx beams canbe very large, one single PRACH format may not support all possiblenumbers of Rx beams at the gNB side. In such scenarios, a UE cantransmit the PRACH formats multiple times (e.g., generated byprocessor(s) 410, transmitted via transceiver circuitry 420, receivedvia communication circuitry 520, and processed by processor(s) 510) tocover all the Rx beams at the gNB side, and in such scenarios, powerramping can be omitted (e.g., by processor(s) 410) even though the UE isusing the same UE Tx beam. Referring to FIG. 14 , illustrated is adiagram of an example technique for PRACH support for a large number ofgNB receive beams, according to various aspects discussed herein. In theexample of FIG. 14 , the gNB has 24 Rx beams, but the PRACH format withthe largest sequence repetition supports only 8 Rx beams. In such ascenario, the UE can transmit the PRACH format of 8 repeated sequences(e.g., generated by processor(s) 410, transmitted via transceivercircuitry 420, received via communication circuitry 520, and processedby processor(s) 510) 3 times without power ramping on those 3consecutive PRACH transmissions. The gNB can use the first 8 Rx beamsfor the first PRACH reception, can use Rx beams 9 to 16 for the secondPRACH reception, and can use the remaining Rx beams for the third PRACHreception.

Since the UE does not know how many times to transmit the PRACH formatwithout power ramping, in various aspects, signaling (e.g., generated byprocessor(s) 510, transmitted via communication circuitry 520, receivedvia transceiver circuitry 420, and processed by processor(s) 410) can beemployed to indicate this information in addition to the PRACH format.In various embodiments, one or more of the following can be signaled tothe UE:

-   1) Number of Rx beams in gNB side: based on this information, the UE    can implicitly calculate (e.g., via processor(s) 410) how many times    to repeat the transmission of PRACH without power ramping;-   2) The number of PRACH repetitions without the UE can use this    number for the repetition of PRACH without power ramping;-   3) The combination of multiple PRACH formats during the transmission    without power ramping (e.g., which can include PRACH format K,    format L, format M) for the UE to transmit without power ramping;    and/or-   4) Other information.

The signaling (e.g., generated by processor(s) 510, transmitted viacommunication circuitry 520, received via transceiver circuitry 420, andprocessed by processor(s) 410) can be done by one of or combination ofphysical broadcast channel (PBCH), remaining minimum system information(RMSI), other system information (OSI), Radio Resource Control (RRC)signaling, or Medium Access Control (MAC) signaling.

In various such embodiments, the UE can maintain a common Tx beam forthe whole repetition of the PRACH transmission. For example, if the gNBconfigures 3 transmissions of PRACH without power ramping, the UE canmaintain the same Tx beam during the transmissions of 3 consecutivePRACH.

In a seventh set of embodiments of the first set of aspects, the gNB canindicate (e.g., via signaling generated by processor(s) 510, transmittedvia communication circuitry 520, received via transceiver circuitry 420,and processed by processor(s) 410) a maximum number of repetitions forPRACH. However, the repetitions can depend on the number of Tx beaminside a UE. In such embodiments, there are multiple options forsignaling the maximum repetition number and corresponding UE behavior.In various embodiments, one or more of the following options can beemployed.

-   1) Option 1: the gNB can signal (e.g., via signaling generated by    processor(s) 510, transmitted via communication circuitry 520,    received via transceiver circuitry 420, and processed by    processor(s) 410) one Max_repetition_PRACH value. The UE can employ    (e.g., via processor(s) 410) the signaled value regardless of the    number of UE Tx beams or number of gNB Rx beams. If the UE transmits    PRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s) 410, transmitted via    transceiver circuitry 420, received via communication circuitry 520,    and processed by processor(s) 510) the maximum number times, the UE    can stop repetition and can restart the RACH procedure from the    beginning (e.g., via processor(s) 410 and transceiver circuitry    420).-   2) Option 2: the gNB can signal (e.g., via signaling generated by    processor(s) 510, transmitted via communication circuitry 520,    received via transceiver circuitry 420, and processed by    processor(s) 410) one Max_repetition_PRACH value. The UE can    calculate (e.g., via processor(s) 410) the actual possible    repetitions of PRACH depending on its Tx beam(s). If the UE has a    single Tx beam, when the UE repeats the PRACH transmissions    Max_repetition_PRACH times, the UE can stop repetition and can    restart the RACH procedure from the beginning (e.g., via    processor(s) 410 and transceiver circuitry 420). If the UE has N Tx    beams, when the UE repeats the PRACH transmissions N x    Max_repetition_PRACH times, then it can stop repetition and can    restart the RACH procedure from the beginning (e.g., via    processor(s) 410 and transceiver circuitry 420).-   3) Option 3: the gNB can signal (e.g., via signaling generated by    processor(s) 510, transmitted via communication circuitry 520,    received via transceiver circuitry 420, and processed by    processor(s) 410) one Max_repetition_PRACH value. The UE can    calculate (e.g., via processor(s) 410) the actual possible    repetitions of PRACH depending on gNB Rx beam(s). If the UE has to    transmit PRACH multiple times (e.g., M times) to cover all the gNB    Rx beams, the UE can assume (e.g., via processor(s) 410) M x    Max_repetition_PRACH is the maximum number of repetitions. Thus,    once the UE has repeated PRACH transmissions M x    Max_repetition_PRACH times, then it can stop repetition and can    restart the RACH procedure from the beginning (e.g., via    processor(s) 410 and transceiver circuitry 420).

In an eighth set of embodiments of the first set of aspects, the PRACHformat can be different depending on the position of the OFDM(Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) symbols. Referring to FIG.15A, illustrated is a diagram showing an example scenario wherein thereare different sizes of cyclic prefixes in different symbols in the sameslot, in connection with various aspects discussed herein. In theexample of FIG. 15A, there are 14 OFDM (or SC (Single Carrier)-FDMA(Frequency Division Multiple Access), etc.) symbols inside a singleslot, with symbols #0 and #7 having longer CP and other symbols havingshorter CP. Thus, depending on the location of the symbol inside a slot,the PRACH format can be different.

Referring to FIG. 15B, illustrated is a diagram showing an example PRACHformat that can be employed by a UE, according to various aspectsdiscussed herein. FIG. 15B shows an example PRACH format (referred toherein as PRACH format X) assuming N repetitions, wherein N can be apositive integer. There can be a CP (Cyclic prefix) located at thebeginning of the first symbol and a GP (guard period) located at the endof the last symbol. In various aspects, the CP can be either at thebeginning of the first symbol or at the end of the last symbol and theGP also can be either in the beginning of the first symbol or at the endof the last symbol.

The CP length of the PRACH format (e.g., the example PRACH format ofFIG. 15B) can be different from the CP of a normal OFDM symbol (e.g.,the symbols of FIG. 15A, etc.). In various embodiments, PRACH format Xcan occupy M number of normal OFDM symbols, where N is distinct from M.For example, if the PRACH format X occupies 5 normal OFDM symbols, thendepending on the location of the PRACH format X, the length can bedifferent. As one specific example in connection with the example slotof FIG. 15A, if the PRACH format X is located from OFDM symbol 0 to 4,then the length can be the sum of 1 OFDM symbol of long CP and 4 OFDMsymbols of short CP. As another specific example in connection with theslot of FIG. 15A, if the PRACH format X is located from OFDM symbol 2 to6, then the length is sum of 5 OFDM symbols of short CP. In variousembodiments, the length of PRACH format X can be adjusted (e.g., viaprocessor(s) 410) depending on the symbols locations, according to oneof several options: (1) the CP length can be fixed and the GP length canvary depending on the location inside a slot; (2) the CP length can varyand the GP length can be fixed depending on the location inside a slot;or (3) the CP length and the GP length can vary depending on thelocation inside a slot.

Referring to FIG. 16 , illustrated is a flow diagram of an examplemethod 1600 employable at a UE that facilitates power ramping inconnection with PRACH, according to various aspects discussed herein. Inother aspects, a machine readable medium can store instructionsassociated with method 1600 that, when executed, can cause a UE toperform the acts of method 1600.

At 1610, an initial best DL (Downlink) Tx beam can be determined basedon a first set of one or more received SS (Synchronization Signal)bursts.

At 1620, a first set of one or more repetitions of PRACH can betransmitted via multiple UL (Uplink) Tx beams based on the initial bestDL Tx beam.

At 1630, a revised best DL Tx beam can be determined based on a secondset of one or more received SS bursts, wherein the initial best DL Txbeam is distinct from the revised best DL Tx beam.

At 1640, a second set of one or more repetitions of the PRACH can betransmitted based on the revised best DL Tx beam, wherein a power of thesecond set of one or more repetitions is based on at least one of: arevised PRACH power ramping counter determined based on a current valueof the PRACH power ramping counter for the initial best DL Tx beam, or aPRACH power offset.

Additionally or alternatively, method 1600 can include one or more otheracts described herein in connection with various embodiments of system400 discussed herein in connection with the first set of aspects.

Dynamic Beam Switching of Control and Data Transmissions

In 3GPP 5G new radio system, dynamic beam switching for physical dataand control channel transmission is supported. Specifically, for datachannel transmission, the dynamic beam indication is included in thescheduling control channel associated with the data channel. For dynamicbeam switching of control channel among configured set of beams, similarto LTE (Long Term Evolution) EPOCH (Enhanced Physical Control Channel),beam switching can be readily realized (e.g., via processor(s) 410) byusing the control channel from the search space (SS) configured with thedesired beam direction. For example, three control channel SSes areconfigured for the UE, each of which can be configured with a downlinkreference signal (RS) assumed to be quasi-colocated (QCLed) with thedemodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the control channel in terms oflarge scale channel parameters in the time, frequency and space domains.In addition to RRC-based reconfiguration of the beam direction (i.e.,the QCLed DL RS) of the SS, it is also agreed in 3GPP that the beamdirection of SS can be dynamically reconfigured by MAC (Medium AccessControl)-CE (Control Element). However, existing 3GPP systems leave openthe questions of whether and how the dynamic beam re-configuration of SScan be signaled by the control channel itself so that the beam switchingcan be realized more dynamically than MAC-CE based reconfiguration.Dynamic beam re-configuration (e.g., according to embodiments of thesecond set of aspects) can be beneficial if the UE is quickly enteringsome un-configured control beam coverage.

By virtue of the beam management procedure in new radio system, UE cansimultaneously maintain one or several Tx-Rx beam pair links (BPLs)which define the proper beam alignment association between certain Tx-Rxbeamforming filter settings. In some deployment scenarios, it ispossible that the same set of BPLs is used for control and datatransmission. However in other scenarios, due to different requirementsof beamforming gain and beam tracking overhead, the BPLs maintained forcontrol and data channels can be different. For instance, a smallernumber of BPLs with wider beamwidth can be maintained for controlchannel(s) than those for data channel(s). Referring to FIG. 17 ,illustrated is a diagram showing an example of different BPLs appliedfor a control channel and a data channel, in connection with variousaspects discussed herein. As shown in the example of FIG. 18 , a controlchannel (e.g., generated by processor(s) 510, transmitted viacommunication circuitry 520, received via transceiver circuitry 420, andprocessed by processor(s) 410) transmitted with wide beam schedules adata channel (e.g., generated by processor(s) 510, transmitted viacommunication circuitry 520, received via transceiver circuitry 420, andprocessed by processor(s) 410) with narrow beam. In some deploymentscenarios, the control and data channels can be transmitted fromdistinct TRPs (Tx/Rx Points). In such scenarios, when an analogbeamformer is employed at the UE (e.g., by processor(s) 410 andtransceiver circuitry 420), due to the decoding delay of the controlchannel, it may not be possible for the UE to apply (e.g., viaprocessor(s) 410 and transceiver circuitry 420) different receivebeamformer filter settings signaled by the control channel for thescheduled data channel immediately after the respective control channel.In particular, front-loaded DMRS, in which the DMRS are placed in thefirst symbols of the scheduled data slot, is now agreed in 3GPP. If adifferent Rx beamformer setting is to be applied for data from that forcontrol, and the DMRS of scheduled data are transmitted immediatelyafter the control (e.g., generated by processor(s) 510, transmitted viacommunication circuitry 520, received via transceiver circuitry 420, andprocessed by processor(s) 410), channel estimates obtained (e.g., viaprocessor(s) 410) from the receiver with improper Rx beamformer settingscannot be easily used for coherent demodulation of the scheduled data.Therefore, some timer based beam switching activation delay has beensuggested. In addition, such timer based beam switching activation delayhas also been proposed for beam switching reconfiguration of the controlchannel SS. Although a timer based method may work in many cases, it canbe problematic, especially in scenarios wherein transmission errorsoccur, leading to a risk of beam misalignment between NW and UE.Moreover, the timer proposed for beam switching activation delay seemsto be a L2 (Layer 2) timer which may not run with the same timinggranularity of the L1 operation, for example, at least on the OFDMsymbol level. The resulting beam switching may not operate as rapidly asnecessary for the physical layer.

In various embodiments employing the second set of embodiments, acomprehensive signaling framework discussed herein can be employed(e.g., by a system 400 and/or system 500) to handle the dynamic beamswitching for data and control channel in a UE-specific manner on anOFDM symbol timing basis. As a result, beam switching can be realized ina more agile way than the timer based method.

In various embodiments of the second set of embodiments, separate orcommon beam indication field(s) can be added (e.g., by processor(s) 510)to the downlink control information (DCI) (e.g., generated byprocessor(s) 510, transmitted via communication circuitry 520, receivedvia transceiver circuitry 420, and processed by processor(s) 410) todynamically signal the updated beam index for scheduled data as well asthe control channel SS. In some such embodiments, via a flag indicatingwhether the beam switching is applied to control SS or data, a commonbeam indication field can be used for both control and data beamswitching, as needed. Compared to separate beam indication, common beamindication techniques discussed herein can reduce the DCI signalingoverhead.

Additionally, in various embodiments, an adjustable starting OFDM symbolposition in the scheduled data transmission can be employed to enablethe beam switching activation delay required by control channel decodingand analog beamformer operation setting at the UE.

In various embodiments employing the second set of aspects, a signalingprocedure can be employed that comprises: (a) data scheduling with beamswitching indication (e.g., via DCI generated by processor(s) 510,transmitted via communication circuitry 520, received via transceivercircuitry 420, and processed by processor(s) 410), (b) an ACK(Acknowledgement)/NACK (Negative Acknowledgement) response (e.g.,generated by processor(s) 410, transmitted via transceiver circuitry420, received via communication circuitry 520, and processed byprocessor(s) 510) with scheduling request of DL RS with new beam, and(c) DL RS with new beam transmission (e.g., generated by processor(s)510, transmitted via communication circuitry 520, received viatransceiver circuitry 420, and processed by processor(s) 410), which canreconfigure the BPL setting of control channel SS. The hand-shakeprocess built-in the above three part approach reduces the possibilityof beam misalignment due to transmission errors or data loss.

By attaching the SS index to the control SS beam indication, in variousembodiments, cross-search space beam switching can also be employed.This can enable a control channel with good coverage to be defined insome fall-back SS comprised of high aggregation level control channelcandidates, to reconfigure the BPL setting of other SS being moresensitive on the proper beamforming transmission.

Techniques of the second set of embodiments can enable dynamic beamswitching for data and control channels in various embodiments. Inparticular, beam switching activation delay between control channel andscheduled data in the same slot can be addressed via a carefullyselected start OFDM symbol of the data. Since the start OFDM symbol forthe data has been agreed to be signaled in DCI in 3GPP, there is verylittle additional standardization involved in adopting techniques of thesecond set of embodiments. The three-part beam reconfiguration for thecontrol channel SS enables the SS beam reconfiguration to be performedon a PHY slot timing level so that beam reconfiguration can be realizedin a more agile manner than the L2 timer based method discussed above.Furthermore, the hand-shake procedure built into the three-part approachof the second set of aspects significantly reduces the risk of beammisalignment due to the transmission errors or packet loss when comparedwith existing techniques.

In various embodiments, one of two techniques can be employed todynamically signal the beam switching for scheduled data and the SS ofthe scheduling control channel: (a) separate beam indication fields or(b) a common beam indication field.

Separate beam indication fields: In this technique, two informationfields related to beam indication, referred to herein as BI_SS (BeamIndication—Search Space) and BI_Data (Beam Indication—Data), can beadded in DCI (e.g., generated by processor(s) 510, transmitted viacommunication circuitry 520, received via transceiver circuitry 420, andprocessed by processor(s) 410) to signal the beam switching for controlchannel SS and scheduled data, respectively. By comprising two separatebeam indication fields, the beam switching for data and control channelSS can be signaled simultaneously. In embodiments wherein different setsof BPLs are maintained for the control channel and the data channel, thenumber of bits for BI_SS and BI_Data can be different due to differentsizes of BPL sets for the control and data channels.

Common beam indication field: in this technique, to save the controlchannel signaling overhead, a single information field related to beamindication (BI) can be included in DCI (e.g., generated by processor(s)510, transmitted via communication circuitry 520, received viatransceiver circuitry 420, and processed by processor(s) 410), precededwith a one bit flag indicating the beam switching to be applied tocontrol SS or scheduled data channel. The format of this BI field can beas follows. BI Field={Flag, Beam index} where Flag values of 0 and 1refer to data and control SS, respectively (or vice versa). The beamindex refers to the updated beam index maintained in the set of BPLsindicated via the Flag.

To address the beam switching activation delay for the scheduled dataand control channel SS, one or more of the following three techniquescan be employed: (a) Adjustable start OFDM symbol for data to cope withbeam switching activation delay; (b) Three-part dynamic beamreconfiguration for the control channel SS; or (c) Dynamic cross-SS BPLreconfiguration.

Adjustable start OFDM symbol for data to cope with beam switchingactivation delay: In this technique, when a control channel schedules(e.g., via DCI generated by processor(s) 510, transmitted viacommunication circuitry 520, received via transceiver circuitry 420, andprocessed by processor(s) 410) a data channel in the same slot withdifferent BPL than that used for the control channel, the start OFDMsymbol of the data channel can be signaled by the control channel, whichcan thereby create an interval of one or more OFDM symbols between theend of control reception and the start of scheduled data. The timeinterval between the end of control and the start of the scheduled dataaddresses the delay for control channel decoding and analog beamswitching. In various embodiments, the supported set of time intervalscan be defined in the standard, and a UE can signal a preferred value tothe network as part of UE capability (e.g., related to control channeldecoding and analog beam switching).

Three-part dynamic beam reconfiguration for the control channel SS: Inthis technique, to dynamically reconfigure the BPL for the search space,as described above, a reconfigured beam index can be signaled in the DCIvia one of the two techniques discussed above (e.g., separate orcommon). Referring to FIG. 18 , illustrated is a diagram of an examplethree-part method that can be employed for dynamic reconfiguration of acontrol channel SS, according to various aspects discussed herein. Toavoid beam misalignment due to transmission errors, the three-partapproach shown in FIG. 18 can be employed: (a) The DCI (e.g., generatedby processor(s) 510, transmitted via communication circuitry 520,received via transceiver circuitry 420, and processed by processor(s)410) schedules a DL data and also indicates the beam switching for thecontrol channel SS; (b) the UE sends the ACK/NACK response (e.g.,generated by processor(s) 410, transmitted via transceiver circuitry420, received via communication circuitry 520, and processed byprocessor(s) 510) back to the NW (Network), and requests DL RS with beamdirection signaled in the DCI in part a, then the UE starts to monitorthe requested DL RS (e.g., via processor(s) 410 and transceivercircuitry 420) in a time window that is one of specified, configured, orchosen by the UE and signaled to the NW; and (c) upon the reception ofthe ACK/NACK response as well as the DL RS scheduling request from theUE, the NW schedules a DL RS transmission within the time window (e.g.,via DCI generated by processor(s) 510, transmitted via communicationcircuitry 520, received via transceiver circuitry 420, and processed byprocessor(s) 410), which can be specified, configured, or chosen andsignaled from the UE.

After transmitting the DL RS with the new beam, the NW can start toapply the new beam for control channel transmission (e.g., generated byprocessor(s) 510, transmitted via communication circuitry 520, receivedvia transceiver circuitry 420, and processed by processor(s) 410). Afterthe reception of the requested DL RS, the UE can also apply (e.g., viaprocessor(s) 410 and transceiver circuitry 420) the new beam index forthe BPL associated with the control channel SS. In scenarios involvingany transmission errors in first two steps, both the NW and UE continueto use the old beam. Additionally, given that the new beam is properlyselected by NW according to some beam management procedure, there is avery small likelihood that the UE is not able to detect the DL RS withthe new beam sent in part c within the considered time window.

Dynamic cross-SS BPL reconfiguration: In this technique, as an optionalextension to the three-part dynamic beam reconfiguration discussedabove, where beam switching is applied to the SS of the schedulingcontrol channel, dynamic beam switching signaled by the scheduling DCIcan be applied to the other SS(s) configured to the UE which can beconfigured with several control channel SS(s). This can be realized byadding the SS index to the beam index indication associated with controlchannel beam index. In such embodiments, the beam index field for thecontrol channel can have the following format: BI field for controlchannel={SS index, beam index} where the SS index refers to the SS towhich the new beam shall be applied, and the beam index defines the newbeam to be used.

Additional Embodiments

Examples herein can include subject matter such as a method, means forperforming acts or blocks of the method, at least one machine-readablemedium including executable instructions that, when performed by amachine (e.g., a processor with memory, an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), orthe like) cause the machine to perform acts of the method or of anapparatus or system for concurrent communication using multiplecommunication technologies according to embodiments and examplesdescribed.

A first example embodiment employable in connection with the first setof aspects discussed herein can comprise a system and/or method ofwireless communication for a fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR)system, comprising: transmitting PRACH (e.g., generated by processor(s)410, transmitted via transceiver circuitry 420, received viacommunication circuitry 520, and processed by processor(s) 510) by a UEwith multiple Tx beams based on a best downlink Tx beam (e.g., asdetermined by processor(s) 410) from the base station.

A second example embodiment employable in connection with the first setof aspects can comprise the first example embodiment, wherein if thebest downlink base station Tx beam is changed during the PRACHrepetitions, then the PRACH power is reset (e.g., via processor(s) 410).

A third example embodiment employable in connection with the first setof aspects can comprise the first example embodiment, wherein if thebest downlink base station Tx beam is changed during the PRACHrepetitions, then the PRACH power ramping (e.g., as determined byprocessor(s) 410) is the same as the case without best downlink basestation Tx beam change.

A fourth example embodiment employable in connection with the first setof aspects can comprise the first example embodiment, wherein the bestdownlink base station Tx beam can be determined (e.g., via processor(s)410) based on the measurement of synchronization signal.

A fifth example embodiment employable in connection with the first setof aspects can comprise the first example embodiment, wherein if thebest downlink base station Tx beam is changed back to the previouslyused Tx beam during the PRACH repetitions, then the PRACH power (e.g.,as set by processor(s) 410) follows the previously used one.

A sixth example embodiment employable in connection with the first setof aspects can comprise the fifth example embodiment, wherein if thetime gap between the last time that the best downlink base station Txbeam (e.g., beam A) and the time that the best downlink base station Txbeam changes back to beam A is smaller than the configured counter, thenthe PRACH power follows the previously used one (e.g., as determined byprocessor(s) 410). If not, the PRACH power is reset (e.g., viaprocessor(s) 410).

A seventh example embodiment employable in connection with the first setof aspects can comprise the first example embodiment, wherein if thebest downlink base station Tx beam is changed during the PRACHrepetitions, then the PRACH power ramping counter is the maximum of 1and (latest power ramping counter−X), where X is a certain (e.g.,non-negative) integer number.

An eighth example embodiment employable in connection with the first setof aspects can comprise the seventh example embodiment, wherein X is oneof fixed in the specification, or configured by UE-specific RRC orsystem information (e.g., generated by processor(s) 510, transmitted viacommunication circuitry 520, received via transceiver circuitry 420, andprocessed by processor(s) 410).

A ninth example embodiment employable in connection with the first setof aspects can comprise the first example embodiment, wherein if thebest downlink base station Tx beam is changed during the PRACHrepetitions, then the PRACH power is reduced (e.g., via processor(s) 410and transceiver circuitry 420) by a certain power offset Y.

A tenth example embodiment employable in connection with the first setof aspects can comprise the ninth example embodiment, wherein Y iseither fixed in the specification, or configured by UE-specific RRC orsystem information (e.g., generated by processor(s) 510, transmitted viacommunication circuitry 520, received via transceiver circuitry 420, andprocessed by processor(s) 410).

An eleventh example embodiment employable in connection with the firstset of aspects can comprise the first example embodiment, wherein if thebest downlink base station Tx beam is changed during PRACH transmissionoperations, then the PRACH resource does not change.

A twelfth example embodiment employable in connection with the first setof aspects can comprise a system and/or method of wireless communicationfor a fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) system, comprising:transmitting PRACH by a UE (e.g., generated by processor(s) 410,transmitted via transceiver circuitry 420, received via communicationcircuitry 520, and processed by processor(s) 510), wherein therepetition of PRACH is based on the number of gNB Rx beams.

A thirteenth example embodiment employable in connection with thetwelfth set of aspects can comprise the twelfth example embodiment,wherein, when the number of Rx beam in the gNB is larger than apredefined number, the UE repeats the PRACH transmissions (e.g., viaprocessor(s) 410 and transceiver circuitry 420).

A fourteenth example embodiment employable in connection with thethirteenth set of aspects can comprise the thirteenth exampleembodiment, wherein during the repetition of PRACH transmissions, the UEdoes not change the PRACH power ramping counter.

A fifteenth example embodiment employable in connection with the firstset of aspects can comprise the thirteenth example embodiment, whereinduring the repetition of PRACH transmissions, the UE does not change thetransmission power of the PRACH.

A sixteenth example embodiment employable in connection with the firstset of aspects can comprise the thirteenth example embodiment, whereinduring the repetition of PRACH transmissions, the UE does not change theTx beam.

A seventeenth example embodiment employable in connection with the firstset of aspects can comprise a system and method of wirelesscommunication for a fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) system,comprising: constructing PRACH by a UE (e.g., via processor(s) 410)based on the PRACH location.

An eighteenth example embodiment employable in connection with the firstset of aspects can comprise the seventeenth example embodiment, whereinthe GP length is based at least in part on the location of PRACH insidea slot.

A nineteenth example embodiment employable in connection with the firstset of aspects can comprise the seventeenth example embodiment, whereinthe CP length is based at least in part on the location of PRACH insidea slot.

A twentieth example embodiment employable in connection with the firstset of aspects can comprise the seventeenth example embodiment, whereinboth the GP and the CP length are based at least in part on the locationof PRACH inside a slot.

A first example embodiment employable in connection with the second setof aspects can comprise a system and/or method employable at a UE or BS(e.g., gNB), wherein two information fields, namely BI_SS and BI_Data,related to beam indications are added in DCI (e.g., generated byprocessor(s) 510, transmitted via communication circuitry 520, receivedvia transceiver circuitry 420, and processed by processor(s) 410) tosignal the beam switching for control channel SS and scheduled data,respectively.

A second example embodiment employable in connection with the second setof aspects can comprise the first example embodiment, wherein by virtueof the two separate beam indication fields, the beam switching for dataand control channel SS can be signaled simultaneously.

A third example embodiment employable in connection with the second setof aspects can comprise the first example embodiment, wherein differentsets of BPLs are maintained for control channel and data channel, andwherein the number of bits for BI_SS and BI_Data can be different due todifferent sizes of BPL sets for control and data channel.

A fourth example embodiment employable in connection with the second setof aspects can comprise a system and/or method employable at a UE or BS(e.g., gNB), wherein one information field related to beam indication(BI) can be included in DCI (e.g., generated by processor(s) 510,transmitted via communication circuitry 520, received via transceivercircuitry 420, and processed by processor(s) 410), wherein the oneinformation field related to BI is preceded with a one bit flagindicating whether the beam switching is to be applied to control SS orscheduled data channel.

A fifth example embodiment employable in connection with the second setof aspects can comprise the fourth example embodiment, wherein theformat of the BI field can be as follows: BI Field={Flag, Beam index}where Flag of 0 and 1 refers to data and control SS, respectively, andwherein the beam index refers to the updated beam index maintained inthe set of BPLs.

A sixth example embodiment employable in connection with the second setof aspects can comprise a system and/or method employable at a UE or BS(e.g., gNB), wherein, when a control channel schedules a data channel inthe same slot with different BPL than that used for the control channel(e.g., generated by processor(s) 510, transmitted via communicationcircuitry 520, received via transceiver circuitry 420, and processed byprocessor(s) 410), the start OFDM symbol of the data channel is signaledby the control channel, and is assigned to create a one or several OFDMsymbol interval between the end of control reception and the start ofscheduled data.

A seventh example embodiment employable in connection with the secondset of aspects can comprise the sixth example embodiment, wherein thetime interval between the end of control and the start of the scheduleddata addresses the delay for control channel decoding and analog beamswitching.

An eighth example embodiment employable in connection with the secondset of aspects can comprise the sixth example embodiment, wherein thesupported set of time intervals can be defined in the standard, and theUE can signal the preferred value to the network (e.g., via signalinggenerated by processor(s) 410, transmitted via transceiver circuitry420, received via communication circuitry 520, and processed viaprocessor(s) 510) as part of UE capability (related to control channeldecoding and analog beam switching).

A ninth example embodiment employable in connection with the second setof aspects can comprise a system and/or method employable at a UE or BS(e.g., gNB), wherein the DCI (e.g., generated by processor(s) 510,transmitted via communication circuitry 520, received via transceivercircuitry 420, and processed by processor(s) 410) schedules a DL dataand also indicates the beam switching for the control channel SS.

A tenth example embodiment employable in connection with the second setof aspects can comprise the ninth example embodiment, wherein the UEsends an ACK/NACK response (e.g., generated by processor(s) 410,transmitted via transceiver circuitry 420, received via communicationcircuitry 520, and processed via processor(s) 510) back to the NW, andrequests DL RS with beam direction signaled in the DCI.

An eleventh example embodiment employable in connection with the secondset of aspects can comprise the ninth example embodiment, wherein the UEstarts to monitor (e.g., via processor(s) 410 and transceiver circuitry420) the requested DL RS in a specified or configured time window.

A twelfth example embodiment employable in connection with the secondset of aspects can comprise the eleventh example embodiment, wherein,upon the reception of the ACK/NACK response as well as the DL RSscheduling request from the UE, the NW schedules a DL RS transmissionwithin the specified/configured time window (e.g., generated byprocessor(s) 510, transmitted via communication circuitry 520, receivedvia transceiver circuitry 420, and processed by processor(s) 410).

A thirteenth example embodiment employable in connection with the secondset of aspects can comprise the eleventh example embodiment, wherein thetime window can be chosen by the UE and signaled to the NW (e.g.,generated by processor(s) 410, transmitted via transceiver circuitry420, received via communication circuitry 520, and processed viaprocessor(s) 510).

A fourteenth example embodiment employable in connection with the secondset of aspects can comprise the ninth example embodiment, wherein, aftertransmitting the DL RS with new beam, NW starts to apply the new beamfor control channel transmission.

A fifteenth example embodiment employable in connection with the secondset of aspects can comprise the eleventh example embodiment, whereinafter the reception of requested DL RS, the UE will also apply the newbeam index for the BPL associated with control channel SS.

A sixteenth example embodiment employable in connection with the secondset of aspects can comprise any of the ninth through fifteenth exampleembodiments, wherein, In case of any transmission errors in the firsttwo steps (the tenth or twelfth example embodiments), both the NW and UEshall continue to use the old beam.

A seventeenth example embodiment employable in connection with thesecond set of aspects can comprise any of the ninth through sixteenthexample embodiments, wherein, when beam switching is applied to the SSof the scheduling control channel, dynamic beam switching signaled bythe scheduling DCI can be applied to the other SS configured to the UEwhich can be configured with several control channel SS(s).

An eighteenth example embodiment employable in connection with thesecond set of aspects can comprise the seventeenth example embodiment,wherein this can be realized by adding the SS index to the beam indexindication associated with the control channel beam index.

A nineteenth example embodiment employable in connection with the secondset of aspects can comprise the eighteenth example embodiment, whereinthe beam index field for the control channel has the following format:BI field for control channel={SS index, beam index} where the SS indexrefers to the SS to which the new beam shall be applied, and the beamindex defines the new beam to be used.

Example 1 is an apparatus configured to be employed in a UE (UserEquipment), comprising: a memory interface; and processing circuitryconfigured to: determine an initial best DL (Downlink) Tx (Transmit)beam based on a first set of one or more SS (Synchronization Signal)bursts; generate, based on the initial best DL Tx beam, a first set ofone or more repetitions of a PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) forone or more UL (Uplink) Tx beams based on the initial best DL Tx beam;determine a revised best DL Tx beam based on a second set of one or moreSS bursts, wherein the revised best DL Tx is different from the initialbest DL Tx beam; determine a power for a second set of one or morerepetitions of the PRACH for the one or more UL Tx beams based at leastin part on at least one of: a revised value of a PRACH power rampingcounter for the revised best DL Tx beam that is determined based atleast in part on a current value of the PRACH power ramping counter forthe initial best DL Tx beam; or a PRACH power offset Y; generate thesecond set of one or more repetitions of the PRACH; and send a firstindicator of the initial best DL Tx beam and a second indicator of therevised best DL Tx beam to a memory via the memory interface.

Example 2 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 1, wherein the power for the second set is determined basedat least in part on the revised value of the PRACH power rampingcounter, and wherein the revised value of the PRACH power rampingcounter is equal to the maximum of 1 and the current value minus X,wherein X is a non-negative integer.

Example 3 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 2, wherein X is one of fixed in a specification, configuredvia UE-specific RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling, or configuredvia system information.

Example 4 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 2, wherein X is 0.

Example 5 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 1-4, wherein the power for the second set is determined basedat least in part on the PRACH power offset Y, wherein the power for thesecond set is equal to a current power for the first set reduced by thePRACH power offset Y.

Example 6 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 5, wherein the PRACH power offset Y is one of fixed in aspecification, configured via UE-specific RRC (Radio Resource Control)signaling, or configured via system information.

Example 7 is an apparatus configured to be employed in a UE (UserEquipment), comprising: a memory interface; and processing circuitryconfigured to: processing a DCI (Downlink Control Information) messagethat comprises one or more beam indication fields, wherein each beamindication field of the one or more beam indication fields comprises anassociated beam index that indicates, for an associated channel, anassociated beam of an associated BPL (Beam Pair Link), wherein theassociated channel for each beam indication field of the one or morebeam indication fields is one of a data channel or a first control SS(Search Space); and send, for each beam indication field of the one ormore beam indication fields, the associated beam index to a memory viathe memory interface.

Example 8 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 7, wherein the one or more beam indication fields comprises afirst beam indication field and a second beam indication field, whereinthe associated channel of the first beam indication field is the datachannel, and wherein the associated channel of the second beamindication field is the first control SS.

Example 9 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 8, wherein the associated set of BPLs of the first beamindication field has a first size, wherein the associated set of BPLs ofthe second beam indication field has a second size, wherein the firstsize is different from the second size, wherein the associated beamindex of the first beam indication field comprises a first number ofbits, wherein the associated beam index of the second beam indicationfield comprises a second number of bits, and wherein the first number ofbits is distinct from the second number of bits.

Example 10 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 7, wherein the one or more beam indication fields comprises asingle beam indication field, wherein the single beam indication fieldcomprises the associated beam index of the single beam indication fieldpreceded by a flag that comprises one bit that indicates whether theassociated channel for the single beam indication field is the datachannel or the first control SS.

Example 11 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 10, wherein the single beam indication field has a format of{Flag, Associated Beam Index}, wherein the flag indicates the datachannel when the flag has a value of 0, and wherein the flag indicatesthe first control SS when the flag has a value of 1.

Example 12 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 7-11, wherein the DCI schedules the data channel in the sameslot as the first control SS, wherein the first control SS comprises theDCI, wherein for the data channel the associated BPL is a first BPL,wherein for the first control SS the associated BPL is a second BPL,wherein the first BPL is different from the second BPL, wherein a startsymbol of the data channel is signaled by the DCI, and wherein there isan interval of one or more symbols between an end symbol of the firstcontrol SS and the start symbol of the data channel.

Example 13 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 12, wherein, during the interval of the one or more symbols,the processing circuitry is further configured to: decode the firstcontrol SS; and perform analog beam switching between the first BPL andthe second BPL.

Example 14 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 12, wherein the interval is a selected interval of aplurality of predefined intervals, and wherein the processing circuitryis further configured to generate UE capability signaling that indicatesa preferred interval of the plurality of predefined intervals.

Example 15 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 7-11, wherein the one or more beam indication fieldscomprises a first beam indication field, wherein the associated channelof the first beam indication field is the first control SS, and whereinthe DCI schedules the data channel.

Example 16 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 15, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured togenerate a response to the DCI, wherein the response comprises an ACK(Acknowledgement)/NACK (Negative Acknowledgement) for the DCI, andwherein the response comprises a request for DL (Downlink) RS (ReferenceSignal(s)) on a beam corresponding to the associated beam indexindicated in the first beam indication field.

Example 17 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 16, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured tomonitor the requested DL RS in a time window.

Example 18 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 17, wherein the time window is one of predefined in aspecification or configured via signaling.

Example 19 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 16, wherein the processing circuitry is further configuredto: select the time window; and generate signaling that indicates thetime window.

Example 20 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s), wherein the requested DL RS are detected in the time window,and wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to apply, forthe first control SS, the associated BPL of the associated beam of theassociated beam index indicated by the first beam indication field.

Example 21 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 16, wherein the requested DL RS are not detected in the timewindow, and wherein the processing circuitry is further configured tomaintain a previously applied BPL for the first control SS.

Example 22 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 15, wherein the UE is configured with a plurality of controlSSs comprising the first control SS and a second control SS differentthan the first control SS, and wherein the second control SS comprisesthe DCI.

Example 23 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 22, wherein the first beam indication field comprises a SSindex that indicates the first control SS.

Example 24 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 23, wherein the first beam indication field has a format of{SS index, Associated Beam Index}, wherein the first beam indicationfield comprises the SS index followed by the associated beam index.

Example 25 is an apparatus configured to be employed in a gNB (nextgeneration Node B), comprising: a memory interface; and processingcircuitry configured to: generating a DCI (Downlink Control Information)message that comprises one or more beam indication fields, wherein eachbeam indication field of the one or more beam indication fieldscomprises an associated beam index that indicates, for an associatedchannel, an associated beam of an associated BPL (Beam Pair Link),wherein the associated channel for each beam indication field of the oneor more beam indication fields is one of a data channel or a firstcontrol SS (Search Space); and send, for each beam indication field ofthe one or more beam indication fields, the associated beam index to amemory via the memory interface.

Example 26 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 25, wherein the one or more beam indication fields comprisesa first beam indication field, wherein the associated channel of thefirst beam indication field is the first control SS, and wherein the DCIschedules the data channel.

Example 27 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 26, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured toprocess a response to the DCI, wherein the response comprises an ACK(Acknowledgement)/NACK (Negative Acknowledgement) for the DCI, andwherein the response comprises a request for DL (Downlink) RS (ReferenceSignal(s)) on a beam corresponding to the associated beam indexindicated in the first beam indication field.

Example 28 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 27, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured toschedule the requested DL RS on the beam in a time window.

Example 29 comprises the subject matter of any variation of any ofexample(s) 28, wherein, after transmission of the requested DL RS in thetime window, the processing circuitry is further configured toconfigured to apply, for the first control SS, the associated BPL of theassociated beam of the associated beam index indicated by the first beamindication field.

Example 30 comprises an apparatus comprising means for executing any ofthe described operations of examples 1-29.

Example 31 comprises a machine readable medium that stores instructionsfor execution by a processor to perform any of the described operationsof examples 1-29.

Example 32 comprises an apparatus comprising: a memory interface; andprocessing circuitry configured to: perform any of the describedoperations of examples 1-29.

The above description of illustrated embodiments of the subjectdisclosure, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intendedto be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed embodiments to the preciseforms disclosed. While specific embodiments and examples are describedherein for illustrative purposes, various modifications are possiblethat are considered within the scope of such embodiments and examples,as those skilled in the relevant art can recognize.

In this regard, while the disclosed subject matter has been described inconnection with various embodiments and corresponding Figures, whereapplicable, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments can beused or modifications and additions can be made to the describedembodiments for performing the same, similar, alternative, or substitutefunction of the disclosed subject matter without deviating therefrom.Therefore, the disclosed subject matter should not be limited to anysingle embodiment described herein, but rather should be construed inbreadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims below.

In particular regard to the various functions performed by the abovedescribed components or structures (assemblies, devices, circuits,systems, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used todescribe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwiseindicated, to any component or structure which performs the specifiedfunction of the described component (e.g., that is functionallyequivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosedstructure which performs the function in the herein illustratedexemplary implementations. In addition, while a particular feature mayhave been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations,such feature may be combined with one or more other features of theother implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any givenor particular application.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus configured to be employed in a UE(User Equipment), comprising: a memory interface; and processingcircuitry configured to: processing a Downlink Control Information (DCI)message that comprises one or more beam indication fields, wherein eachbeam indication field of the one or more beam indication fieldscomprises an associated beam index that indicates, for an associatedchannel, an associated beam of an associated Beam Pair Link (BPL),wherein the associated channel for each beam indication field of the oneor more beam indication fields is one of a data channel or a firstcontrol Search Space (SS); and send, for each beam indication field ofthe one or more beam indication fields, the associated beam index to amemory via the memory interface.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe one or more beam indication fields comprises a first beam indicationfield and a second beam indication field, wherein the associated channelof the first beam indication field is the data channel, and wherein theassociated channel of the second beam indication field is the firstcontrol SS.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the BPL of the firstbeam indication field has a first size, and the BPL of the second beamindication field has a second size, wherein the first size is differentfrom the second size, wherein the associated beam index of the firstbeam indication field comprises a first number of bits, wherein theassociated beam index of the second beam indication field comprises asecond number of bits, and wherein the first number of bits is distinctfrom the second number of bits.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theone or more beam indication fields comprises a single beam indicationfield, wherein the single beam indication field comprises the associatedbeam index of the single beam indication field preceded by a flag thatcomprises one bit that indicates whether the associated channel for thesingle beam indication field is the data channel or the first controlSS, and the single beam indication field has a format of {Flag,Associated Beam Index}, wherein the flag indicates the data channel whenthe flag has a value of 0, and wherein the flag indicates the firstcontrol SS when the flag has a value of
 1. 5. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the DCI schedules the data channel in a same slot as the firstcontrol SS, wherein the first control SS comprises the DCI, wherein forthe data channel the associated BPL is a first BPL, wherein for thefirst control SS the associated BPL is a second BPL, wherein the firstBPL is different from the second BPL, wherein a start symbol of the datachannel is signaled by the DCI, and wherein there is an interval of oneor more symbols between an end symbol of the first control SS and thestart symbol of the data channel.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein,during the interval of the one or more symbols, the processing circuitryis further configured to: decode the first control SS; and performanalog beam switching between the first BPL and the second BPL.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 5, wherein the interval is a selected interval of aplurality of predefined intervals, and wherein the processing circuitryis further configured to generate UE capability signaling that indicatesa preferred interval of the plurality of predefined intervals.
 8. Abaseband processor of a UE (User Equipment), comprising: one or moreprocessors configured to: receive a Downlink Control Information (DCI)message that comprises one or more beam indication fields, wherein eachbeam indication field of the one or more beam indication fieldscomprises an associated beam index that indicates, for an associatedchannel, an associated beam of an associated Beam Pair Link (BPL),wherein the associated channel for each beam indication field of the oneor more beam indication fields is one of a data channel or a firstcontrol Search Space (SS); and generate a response after receiving theDCI, wherein the response is an acknowledgement (ACK) or a negativeacknowledgement (NACK).
 9. The baseband processor of claim 8, whereinthe one or more beam indication fields comprises a first beam indicationfield, wherein the associated channel of the first beam indication fieldis the first control SS, and wherein the DCI schedules the data channel.10. The baseband processor of claim 9, wherein the response comprises arequest for Downlink (DL) Reference Signal(s) (RS) on a beamcorresponding to the associated beam index indicated in the first beamindication field.
 11. The baseband processor of claim 10, wherein theone or more processors are further configured to monitor the requestedDL RS in a time window.
 12. The baseband processor of claim 11, whereinthe one or more processors are further configured to: select the timewindow; and generate signaling that indicates the time window.
 13. Thebaseband processor of claim 11, wherein the requested DL RS are detectedin the time window, and wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to apply, for the first control SS, the associated BPL of theassociated beam of the associated beam index indicated by the first beamindication field.
 14. The baseband processor of claim 11, wherein therequested DL RS are not detected in the time window, and wherein the oneor more processors are further configured to maintain a previouslyapplied BPL for the first control SS.
 15. The baseband processor ofclaim 9, wherein the UE is configured with a plurality of control SSscomprising the first control SS and a second control SS different thanthe first control SS, and wherein the second control SS comprises theDCI.
 16. The baseband processor of claim 15, wherein the first beamindication field comprises a SS index that indicates the first controlSS, and the first beam indication field has a format of {SS index,Associated Beam Index}, wherein the first beam indication fieldcomprises the SS index followed by the associated beam index.
 17. Anapparatus configured to be employed in a Base Station (BS), comprising:a memory interface; and processing circuitry configured to: generating aDownlink Control Information (DCI) message that comprises one or morebeam indication fields, wherein each beam indication field of the one ormore beam indication fields comprises an associated beam index thatindicates, for an associated channel, an associated beam of anassociated Beam Pair Link (BPL), wherein the associated channel for eachbeam indication field of the one or more beam indication fields is oneof a data channel or a first control Search Space (SS); and send, foreach beam indication field of the one or more beam indication fields,the associated beam index to a memory via the memory interface.
 18. Theapparatus of claim 17, wherein the one or more beam indication fieldscomprises a first beam indication field, wherein the associated channelof the first beam indication field is the first control SS, and whereinthe DCI schedules the data channel.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18,wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to process aresponse to the DCI, wherein the response comprises an Acknowledgement(ACK)/Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) for the DCI, and wherein theresponse comprises a request for Downlink (DL) Reference Signal(s) (RS)on a beam corresponding to the associated beam index indicated in thefirst beam indication field.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein theprocessing circuitry is further configured to schedule the requested DLRS on the beam in a time window, and after transmission of the requestedDL RS in the time window, the processing circuitry is further configuredto apply, for the first control SS, the associated BPL of the associatedbeam of the associated beam index indicated by the first beam indicationfield.